Ross Pearson says 'TUF' feud with with George Sotiropoulos 'got out of hand at times'

Ross Pearson doesn’t like to feud and tell. And, well, in this case, he actually can’t, contractually.

But the UFC lightweight, who is coaching opposite George Sotiropoulos on “The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs. U.K.,” can say that he and Sotiropoulos weren’t exactly chummy on the show, which taped earlier this fall and currently is airing in the U.K. and Australia and streaming weekly at tuf.tv.

Pearson (13-6 MMA, 5-3 UFC) said he and Sotiropoulos (14-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) got after each other enough on the show that UFC President Dana White had to step in to mediate from all the way around the world.

“I’m not really one of the guys who kiss and tell, shall we say,” Pearson recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “But yeah, things got out of hand at times. I’m way more professional than having a fight in the street. I’ve not done that since I was 15 years old.”

Pearson, while in Nottingham, England, his home country, for the recent UFC on FUEL TV 5 show, said coaching opposite
Sotiropoulos brought out some interesting moments, and when things got too heated and White heard about it, he nearly flew back to Australia to intercede.

But instead, the fighters’ boss hopped on Skype and made sure nothing got out of hand.

“At times, things got a bit crazy and we got told by Dana to calm it down, think about what we’re doing, and we’re professional athletes,” Pearson said. “He nearly did – he nearly came out there. But (he got on) Skype, and we had a big screen. He called us and shouted down my mobile. I can’t go into detail, but we got bollocked.”

Pearson said White and the UFC might not have had any idea that pairing the two up would result in coaching fireworks on the show the way fans have seen in past editions of “The Ultimate Fighter,” like Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, or Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

But when you pit the United Kingdom against Australia, even White said he had no idea of the power of that national rivalry.

“When this season is over, I’ll sit down and tell you guys the behind-the-scenes,” White said. “Craziest f—ing season of any ‘Ultimate Fighter’ we’ve ever had. Ever. And that’s saying a lot. I underestimated the rivalry. People talk about that s—. Well, I’m from America – the Yankees and the Red Sox. I underestimated. I didn’t understand. I didn’t get it. I get it now. The craziest season ever. Crazy as in a lot of s— you won’t see on TV.”

Pearson said his issues with Sotiropoulos really came down to just two different ways of doing things.

“I gave George the most respect, like always,” Pearson said. “I’m a professional athlete, a UFC fighter – the best in the business. To fight in the UFC, you’ve got to be a professional. As the show goes on, you win some, you lose some, and we’re completely different. I handle things totally different than the way he handles things, and he reacts totally different than I do.

“I’m way more mellow than what he is. He snaps. He mentally breaks down.”

For now, though the show has finished taping, Pearson has to wait until Dec. 14 to fight Sotiropoulos – when the two meet in the main event of UFC on FX 6 in Australia, which also will serve as the season finale for the latest international edition of TUF.

Pearson said he’ll start to focus on his training and save most of the rest of the trash talk for the fight itself.

“I just listen to my coaches and keep training hard. I’ll try to separate myself closer to the fight away from the media and try to not listen to what other people are saying,” Perason said. “But it’s only just started, the trash talk. I just have to make sure I’m 100 percent focused to win this fight, because I’m sure he is going to be exactly the same as I feel.”